


If the Night Could Live Forever.

by Akihaa



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: F/F, decided to clean it up a bit and post, had this as a WIP for a long time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akihaa/pseuds/Akihaa
Summary: *blows the dust off this fic*They’re a pretty good pair for angst and fluff
Relationships: Kurosaki Chitose/Shirayuki Chiyo
Kudos: 3





	If the Night Could Live Forever.

**Author's Note:**

> *blows the dust off this fic* 
> 
> They’re a pretty good pair for angst and fluff

It’s always the same dream. A dream where Chiyo is sitting in the backseat of her father’s car, with her mother in the passenger’s, and she’s watching the town roll by the window building by building.

She should already be more than familiar with this setting, and what follows after the car jerks, yet it always seems to catch her off guard when she finds herself laying in the same pool of crimson glass shards, staring at the same silhouette of flames, hearing someone’s screams. She still doesn’t know whose voice it is. Or maybe, she doesn’t want to know.

But everything is silenced when a girl stands before her and reaches a hand down in offering. It’s a beautiful hand, Chiyo always thinks. It would be a shame to sully that pale skin with her hands stained with blood and ash, but as she hesitates, the girl closes the space between their fingers. At her touch, nothing else seems relevant. Chiyo stands, and the girl walks forth into darkness illuminated by nothing except for her, hand in hand. All Chiyo needs to do is watch the sway of the girl’s golden hair, and follow in her footsteps.

They walk, and walk, and walk, until Chiyo no longer needs to think about the flames that once threatened to engulf her. So long as She was there, Chiyo could justify her existence.

But Chiyo knows how this dream always ends. She knows that she can’t stay for long. The warmth embracing her hand begins to fade, just as the silhouette of her savior before her.

_Please. Don’t go._

She always wants to say. But her voice never comes, and the girl vanishes into the darkness, leaving Chiyo behind.

Why? Why can’t she ever spit out the words? If only she could say it—if she could hold onto that hand tighter, then maybe she wouldn’t leave her behind.

But what scares Chiyo the most is that even if she were to give shape to her plea...

...that being left behind was inevitable.

* * *

Chiyo opens her eyes to the white ceiling of her room.

_Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock._

The steady chirp of the clock grounds her into reality. Without looking, Chiyo predicts that it’s probably sometime past midnight.

She closes her eyes again and takes a deep breath through her nose, placing her hands over her eyes before her exhales.

That dream haunts her for no reason other than to remind her of the time that’s left. To remind her that she was a coward. That without her lady, she was just a girl lost in the dark—alone to wander without someone else’s hand to hold.

Who was Shirayuki Chiyo without Kurosaki Chitose?

Chiyo did not want to know the answer, nor did she desire to seek it. For if she did, it would mean accepting a life that did not have Kurosaki Chitose in it as a possibility.

Even though she knows that there’s nothing that can be done other than to stand by her lady’s side until the day comes, the ache in her chest still festers without relent.

If only there was someone who could tell her how to make everything okay. Someone who could let her wave a magic wand, and there would be nothing but peace and happiness for the woman she served. So long as there was that, Chiyo did not need anything else.

The maid removes her hands from her eyes and swings her legs over the bedside to stand, putting her feet into some slippers. She pads over to the window, where silver moonlight spills into her room.

During times like these, Chitose would always be out on walks, no matter how many times Chiyo reprimanded her out of worry. She laughs to herself just thinking about it.

But as the smile dances on her lips, she spots a trail of gold ghosting it’s way across the gardens. Knowing immediately, Chiyo gasps and rushes out her door, nearly tripping over the rug on the way.

* * *

Chitose hums a familiar tune to herself as she tiptoes along a fountain, enjoying the company of night until she catches the sound of rushing footsteps. She turns, spotting a girl sprinting towards her.

“Ah, Chiyo-chan, there you are!” Chitose beams and waves at her. Chiyo grinds to a halt, panting to catch her breath before speaking.

“Milady, it’s cold tonight. Your night clothes are hardly enough to protect you from the chill. Here, this blanket–”

Chiyo unfolds the woolen cloth in her hands, then looks up at Chitose. Something about her lady peering down at her, bathing in the silver light from the moon above her head like a halo, makes her words catch inside of her throat. It was an ethereal sight. Too much so, that Chiyo feels as if she were to blink, that she would disappear without a trace in the midnight air.

But as she stares, Chitose smiles with a tilt of her head, as if to ask, “What are you waiting for?”.

Chiyo snaps her jaw shut, breaking out of her trance and steps up onto the fountain walls. Chitose turns to face her, and Chiyo dutifully wraps the blanket around her shoulders. The two are silent as the fountain waters whisper. Chiyo’s hands linger along the hem of the cloth, where Chitose brushes her fingers against Chiyo’s. Though the feeling of skin against skin upon her hands is unfamiliar, Chiyo dares to think that it was certainly not unwelcome, should it come from the warmth of her lady.

“Took you long enough, Chiyo-chan.” Chitose teases.

“...You were waiting for me to come, weren’t you, milady.” Chiyo lips turned up into an exasperated smile.

“Hehe, you got me.” The young lady winks. “For some reason, whenever I’m out here, and I think of you, you always come running...So I was wondering when you would show up.”

“I...I’m sorry, Milady. I should have arrive soone–”

“I’m just joking, silly.” Chitose chuckles and boops her finger against the tip of Chiyo’s nose just as she was about to bow her head. “Having you here with me at all on nights like these...is more than enough.”

“Milady…”

Chitose smiles, but Chiyo has beared witness to this smile enough times to know that her eyes hid something different buried beneath the surface. Just as that something flickered, Chitose reaches out a hand to stroke the top of Chiyo’s head with a giggle.

“Chi-chan, your hair is all over the place.”

“Ah…”

Chitose continues taming the stray locks of hair, then runs her fingers through a few times for good measure. Though it felt wrong in some way to allow her lady to be the one looking after her, Chiyo relishes the way each stroke made her heart calm. If she remembered well enough, it was a gesture that Chitose had often done years ago, back when Chiyo could hardly call herself a proper servant just yet.

And to think, the steel wall that she built around the little girl she swore to never let anyone see...would be melted by the very master who she believed to have no use for the girl she locked away inside of herself.

Chitose combs through Chiyo’s hair one last time before stepping back along the cement.

“There ya go. Cute as a button. Though, seeing you with a bedhead is just as cute, you know. What I wouldn’t give to see it more often.” She fawns.

“...It would be improper of me to greet my lady before grooming in the morning.” Chiyo responds dryly.

“Hmm, not quite exactly what I meant, but…” Chitose puffs out a cheek, and Chiyo tilts her head.

“Huh?”

“No, nevermind.”

The blonde woman turns on her heels and begins walking along the fountain’s edge. Chiyo follows closely at her tail, hands hovering at the ready.

“M-Milady, it’s dangerous...You could fall inside.” She warns

“But you’ll catch me before I do, won’t you?” Chitose calls back.

“...Yes. I will.”

“Then it’s fine, isn’t it? As long as you’re here, I can always have a little fun.”

“...Very well.”

Chitose resumes tracing around the fountain, arms spread wide to keep herself balanced. Though Chiyo continues to silently fret behind her, watching her lady’s back and having fun did bring a smile to her lips.

But just as they complete a circle, Chitose starts to teeter on the edge as she loses balance.

“Oopsie—“

“M-Milady!”

Chiyo rushes forward and wraps her arms around Chitose’s waist, securing her in place. If Chitose really had fallen in the cold fountain water, and with her constitution, who knows what could happen. But as their proximity, or perhaps lack thereof, began to realize in Chiyo’s mind, all forms of coherent thought ceased, locking her flushed against the back of Chitose.

“See? You caught me.” Chitose laughs as she leans back into Chiyo’s embrace, nuzzling her temple against her head.

“My lady...you planned on doing that, didn’t you.” Chiyo mumbles into her shoulder as heat rises up to her cheeks.

“You’re getting too good at this, Chi-chan.”

“Of course. How could I not?”

The two share a laugh, and silence falls. Chiyo should have let go by now, but she can’t seem to bring herself to part from Chitose’s frame. Chitose doesn’t say a word, simply letting herself sink into Chiyo’s arms.

She looks up to the hazy purple sky, wondering what it would look like if all the lights in the world were to disappear. She’s always lived in Tokyo—the city that doesn’t know the meaning of rest. The lights steal the stars from the sky, leaving the moon by its lonesome.

“Hey, Chi-chan. Did you get to see the stars in your hometown?” She asks quietly. There’s a long pause, but Chiyo answers dutifully.

“Yes. You had to go far from the city limits, but I remember seeing them.”

“Do you miss them?”

Another pause.

“I...have not thought about it. Why do you ask, Milady?”

“Mm. No reason. I just thought it would be nice to see them. Look, the moon seems so lonely, doesn’t it? If it knew how many stars surrounded it every night, I’m sure it wouldn’t be so lonely then.”

“...I’m sure that you’re right.”

“Then, let’s see that kind of sky together someday, Chi-chan.”

“If you so wish, I’ll do everything I can to make it come true.”

Chitose can’t help but laugh at Chiyo’s consistent awkwardness, but that’s always been a part of what she loves about her.

Both servant and master stay still for fear of driving the other away with any sudden movement. The night was cold, and their bodies were warm, so there’s no harm in it in the end, was there?

“...Shall we head back inside, Milady?” Chiyo reverently asks.

“...No. Let’s...stay out here. Just a little longer. Okay?” Chitose answers, faithfully watching the moon up in the sky.

There’s a trace of relief in Chiyo’s own heart, and she wraps her arms tighter around Chitose’s waist.

“...Okay.”


End file.
